'Incredibles' director wins Wired award

"The Incredibles" recently won 10 Annie Awards from the International Animated Film Society, and is nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

Bird began his career with The Walt Disney Co., and went on to work on the Fox network's animated hit "The Simpsons" before writing and directing his first feature, "The Iron Giant" for Warner Bros. in 1999. He joined Pixar Animation Studios in 2000.

He told Wired Hollywood currently regards computer-generated animation as "surefire" -- in much the same way as musicals along the lines of "The Little Mermaid" were regarded a decade ago.

"It's 1995 all over again," he said. "In 1995, everyone thought that full animation with five Broadway tunes and a familiar story with some contemporary wisecracking was the route to success. Most people failed and ran away with their tail between their legs."

Bird said many of those filmmakers are back into animation because of CG.

Wired presented Howard Stern with its Wired Renegade Award for challenging the Federal Communications Commission and for his upcoming move to Sirius Satellite Radio.

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